ADL Slams Comparison of Iranian Exile Camp to Auschwitz

Lawmakers accused US, Iraqi leaders of being responsible for atrocious conditions of Iranian exiles, with one making comparison to Auschwitz

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Rachel Hirshfeld , 05/08/12 16:09

ADL Dir. Abe Foxman

Yoni Kempinski

Lawmakers in Washington accused US and Iraqi leaders last week of being responsible for the atrocious conditions of Iranian exiles housed near Baghdad, with one Republican comparing the facilities to Auschwitz.

During discussions with other members about Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty located near Baghdad, U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) reportedly pointed to a photograph of one of the sites and said, "Doesn't that look like Auschwitz? This looks like a concentration camp. We have sent people to a concentration camp."

"It is inappropriate to suggest that conditions at a refugee camp in Iraq are in any way similar to the circumstances of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz where millions of Jews and others were murdered during the Holocaust," said Abraham H. Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, who is himself a Holocaust survivor. "Such comparisons only serve to trivialize the memory of the Holocaust and the murderous deeds of the Nazis."

The Anti-Defamation League wrote a letter to Rep. Rohrabacher, calling on him to reconsider his inappropriate analogy and retract his remarks.